Without a doubt, the climate change and climate action conversations are happening with increased frequency in many corporate boardrooms and in government corridors the world over.
The negative effects of climate change catalysed by both production and consumption will continue to be a part of our daily lives for decades to come. As corporate and political leaders took to mitigate these effects, capital consolation is happening, earmarked for the enormous efforts required to ensure that we continue to have a livable planet.
The United Nations Climate Change Conference Presidency, outlined eleven priorities areas in a document on action items for public climate financing.
These are, ‘the quantity and predictability of climate finance; the role of multilateral development banks, public development banks and development finance institutions; delivery through multilateral climate funds; mobilising private climate finance; wider fiscal challenges; the allocation of finance – in particular grants – to the poorest and most vulnerable; access to climate finance; finance for adaptation and resilience; finance for nature and nature-based solutions; the coherence of approaches to climate impacts; and the gender-responsiveness of climate finance’.
Kenya has ambitious nationally determined contribution goals and has articulated her strategy well. As mentioned in an earlier column, Kenya is seeking approximately $54 billion to fund her complex multi-sector, multi-stakeholder play.
While there have been pledges to the tune of $100 Billion per annum in support of climate interventions from the ‘developed world’, I see a gap in how this finance is disbursed and managed. The key outcome is that unless done differently, Africa will remain a net consumer of any innovations geared towards climate resilience.
With inherent bias in the flow of financing, these locally operated foreign firms tap into additional revenue and capital – grant, equity, or debt, from sources that are visible and available to them under multiple territory domicilium and networks.For some context, there is investor appetite for electric vehicles targeting the public transport sector on ride-hailing and traditional mobility user experiences. The technologies, whether proprietary or under licence, are developed elsewhere, tropicalised for the continent, and sold to us. While this is still good for the environment, we completely miss out on the additional upside created.
Local actors must come together to deliberate and find a way to unlock sizable ticket climate financing.
Njihia is the head of business and partnerships at Sure Corporation | www.mbuguanjihia.com | @mbuguanjihia
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